Editing South Plainfield, New Jersey (section)

==Government==

===Local government===
South Plainfield is governed under the [[Borough (New Jersey)|borough]] form of New Jersey municipal government, which is used in 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide, making it the most common form of government in New Jersey.<ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/inventory_of_municipal_forms_of_government_in_new_jersey.pdf ''Inventory of Municipal Forms of Government in New Jersey''], [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies, July 1, 2011. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> The governing body is comprised of the mayor and the borough council, with all positions elected [[at-large]] on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. The mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The borough council includes six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle.<ref name=DataBook>''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'', [[Rutgers University]] [[Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy]], March 2013, p. 84.</ref> The borough form of government used by South Plainfield is a "[[weak mayor]] / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can [[veto]] ordinances subject to an [[veto override|override]] by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council.<ref>Cerra, Michael F. [http://www.njslom.org/magart0307_p14.html "Forms of Government: Everything You've Always Wanted to Know, But Were Afraid to Ask"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924045019/http://www.njslom.org/magart0307_p14.html |date=2014-09-24 }}, [[New Jersey State League of Municipalities]]. Accessed November 30, 2014.</ref><ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/forms_of_municipal_government_in_new_jersey_9220.pdf#page=6 "Forms of Municipal Government in New Jersey"], p. 6. [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref>

{{As of|2024}}, the [[mayor]] of South Plainfield is [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] Matthew P. Anesh, whose term of office ends December 31, 2026.<ref name=Mayor>[https://www.southplainfieldnj.com/spnj/Mayor%20&%20Council/Mayor/ Mayor], Borough of South Plainfield. Accessed May 28, 2024.</ref> Members of the South Plainfield Borough Council are Council President Robert A. Bengivenga Jr. (R, 2024), Christine Noonan Faustini (R, 2026), Melanie McCann-Mott (R, 2025), Peter D. Smith (R, 2025), Derryck C. White (R, 2026) and Joseph Wolak (R, 2024).<ref>[https://www.southplainfieldnj.com/spnj/Mayor%20&%20Council/Council%20Members/ Council Members], Borough of South Plainfield. Accessed May 28, 2024.</ref><ref>[https://www.southplainfieldnj.com/spnj/Mayor%20%26%20Council/Budget%20Information/2024%20Budget%20%26%20Audit/2024%20Introduced%20Budget.pdf?1716946278 2024 Municipal Data Sheet], Borough of South Plainfield. Accessed May 28, 2024.</ref><ref name=Middlesex2023>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Middlesex/119048/web.317647/#/summary November 7, 2023 General Election Official Results], [[Middlesex County, New Jersey]], December 7, 2023. Accessed January 1, 2024.</ref><ref name=Middlesex2022>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Middlesex/116148/web.307039/#/summary November 8, 2022 General Election Official Results], [[Middlesex County, New Jersey]], updated November 22, 2022. Accessed January 1, 2023.</ref><ref name=Middlesex2021>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Middlesex/110780/web.278093/#/summary General Election November 2, 2021 Official Results], [[Middlesex County, New Jersey]], updated November 19, 2021. Accessed April 13, 2022.</ref>

===Federal, state and county representation===
South Plainfield is located in the 6th Congressional District<ref name=PCR2012>[https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/2012-congressional-districts/njcd-2011-plan-components-county-mcd.pdf Plan Components Report], [[New Jersey Redistricting Commission]], December 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020.</ref> and is part of New Jersey's 18th state legislative district<ref name=Districts2011>[https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/2011-legislative-districts/towns-districts.pdf Municipalities Sorted by 2011-2020 Legislative District], [[New Jersey Department of State]]. Accessed February 1, 2020.</ref><ref name=LWV2019>[https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5bae63366fd2b2e5b9f87e5e/5d30f0a94a82c66427e564d2_2019_CitizensGuide.pdf ''2019 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''], New Jersey [[League of Women Voters]]. Accessed October 30, 2019.</ref><ref>[https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/districtnumbers.asp#18 Districts by Number for 2011-2020], [[New Jersey Legislature]]. Accessed January 6, 2013.</ref>

{{NJ Congress 06}} {{NJ Senate}}

{{NJ Legislative 18}}

{{NJ Middlesex County Commissioners}}

===Politics===
As of March 2011, there were a total of 14,119 registered voters in South Plainfield, of which 4,368 (30.9%) were registered as [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]], 2,235 (15.8%) were registered as [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] and 7,511 (53.2%) were registered as [[Unaffiliated (New Jersey)|Unaffiliated]]. There were 5 voters registered as [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarians]] or [[Green Party (United States)|Greens]].<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2011-middlesex-co-summary-report.pdf Voter Registration Summary - Middlesex], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, March 23, 2011. Accessed November 27, 2012.</ref> As of April 2024, there were a total of 17,380 registered voters in South Plainfield, of which 6,217 (35.77%) were registered as [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]], 3,667 (21.10%) were registered as [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] and 7,315 (42.10%) were registered as [[Unaffiliated (New Jersey)|Unaffiliated]]. There were 5 voters registered as [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarians]] or [[Green Party (United States)|Greens]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2012|2012 presidential election]], Democrat [[Barack Obama]] received 57.9% of the vote (5,720 cast), ahead of Republican [[Mitt Romney]] with 40.9% (4,043 votes), and other candidates with 1.2% (114 votes), among the 9,974 ballots cast by the borough's 14,424 registered voters (97 ballots were [[Spoilt vote|spoiled]]), for a turnout of 69.1%.<ref name=2012Elections>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2012-results/2012-presidential-middlesex.pdf |title=Presidential General Election Results - November 6, 2012 - Middlesex County |date=March 15, 2013 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref><ref name=2012VoterReg>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2012-results/2012-ballotscast-middlesex.pdf |title=Number of Registered Voters and Ballots Cast - November 6, 2012 - General Election Results - Middlesex County|date=March 15, 2013 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref> In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2008|2008 presidential election]], Democrat Barack Obama received 53.4% of the vote (5,723 cast), ahead of Republican [[John McCain]] with 44.7% (4,797 votes) and other candidates with 1.0% (110 votes), among the 10,720 ballots cast by the borough's 14,454 registered voters, for a turnout of 74.2%.<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2008-gen-elect-presidential-results-middlesex.pdf 2008 Presidential General Election Results: Middlesex County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 23, 2008. Accessed November 27, 2012.</ref> In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2004|2004 presidential election]], Democrat [[John Kerry]] received 49.9% of the vote (4,893 ballots cast), outpolling Republican [[George W. Bush]] with 49.0% (4,808 votes) and other candidates with 0.5% (67 votes), among the 9,803 ballots cast by the borough's 13,191 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 74.3.<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2004-presidential_middlesex_co_2004.pdf 2004 Presidential Election: Middlesex County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 13, 2004. Accessed November 27, 2012.</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; font-size:95%;"
|+ Presidential Elections Results
!Year
![[Republican Party (New Jersey)|Republican]]
![[Democratic Party (New Jersey)|Democratic]]
![[Third Party (United States)|Third Parties]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[2024 United States presidential election in New Jersey|2024]]<ref name="2024Elections">{{cite web|url=https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/2024/2024-official-general-results-president-middlesex.pdf|title=Presidential General Election Results - November 5, 2024 - Middlesex County|publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections|access-date=December 31, 2024}}</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|48.6% ''5,697''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''49.1%'''  ''5,748''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |2.3% ''135''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2020|2020]]<ref name="2020Elections">{{cite web|url=https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/2020/2020-official-general-results-president-middlesex.pdf|title=Presidential General Election Results - November 3, 2020 - Middlesex County|publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections|access-date=December 31, 2020}}</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|44.2% ''5,446''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''53.9%'''  ''6,648''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |1.9% ''188''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2016|2016]]<ref name="2016Elections">{{cite web|url=http://www.nj.gov/state/elections/2016-results/2016-gen-elect-presidential-results-middlesex.pdf|title=Presidential General Election Results - November 8, 2016 - Middlesex County|publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections|access-date=December 31, 2017}}</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|44.9% ''4,742''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''51.0%''' ''5,380''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |3.4% ''358''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2012|2012]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/2012/2012-presidential-middlesex.pdf|title=Presidential General Election Results - November 6, 2012 - Middlesex County|date=March 15, 2013|publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections|access-date=January 9, 2025}}</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|40.9% ''4,043''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''57.9%'''  ''5,720''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |1.2% ''114''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2008|2008]]'''<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2008-gen-elect-presidential-results-middlesex.pdf 2008 Presidential General Election Results: Middlesex County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722203923/http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2008-gen-elect-presidential-results-middlesex.pdf |date=July 22, 2013}}, [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 23, 2008. Accessed January 9, 2025.</ref>
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|44.7% ''4,797''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''53.4%'''  ''5,723''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |1.0% ''110''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2004|2004]]'''<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2004-presidential_middlesex_co_2004.pdf 2004 Presidential Election: Middlesex County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722204150/http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2004-presidential_middlesex_co_2004.pdf |date=July 22, 2013}}, [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 13, 2004. Accessed January 9, 2025.</ref>
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|49.0% ''4,808''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''49.9%'''   ''4,893''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |0.5% ''67''
|-
|}

In the [[New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2013|2013 gubernatorial election]], Republican [[Chris Christie]] received 63.7% of the vote (3,950 cast), ahead of Democrat [[Barbara Buono]] with 35.2% (2,186 votes), and other candidates with 1.1% (68 votes), among the 6,289 ballots cast by the borough's 14,512 registered voters (85 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 43.3%.<ref name=2013Elections>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2013-results/2013-general-election-results-governor-middlesex.pdf |title=Governor - Middlesex County |date=January 29, 2014 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref><ref name=2013VoterReg>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2013-results/2013-general-election-ballotscast-middlesex.pdf |title=Number of Registered Voters and Ballots Cast - November 5, 2013 - General Election Results - Middlesex County|date=January 29, 2014 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref> In the [[New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2009|2009 gubernatorial election]], Republican Chris Christie received 51.6% of the vote (3,616 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat [[Jon Corzine]] with 39.0% (2,736 votes), Independent [[Chris Daggett]] with 7.6% (534 votes) and other candidates with 0.8% (55 votes), among the 7,010 ballots cast by the borough's 14,053 registered voters, yielding a 49.9% turnout.<ref>[http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-governor_results-middlesex.pdf 2009 Governor: Middlesex County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017230558/http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-governor_results-middlesex.pdf |date=October 17, 2012 }}, [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 31, 2009. Accessed November 27, 2012.</ref>